Illuminated ski poles have been proposed to reduce some of the risks of accident to skiers, especially those encountered when skiing under poor lighting conditions. In general, such ski poles are only illuminated over a relatively small portion of their overall length, and therefore their illumination capabilities are limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,817 to Lah discloses a ski pole having a shaft with a hollowed upper portion which houses a light source. A small portion of the shaft adjacent to the light source is made of a translucent or transparent material. Because the remainder of the shaft is made from a conventional, opaque material, the ski pole has limited light-transmitting capability. Additionally, the need to hollow out the shaft to accommodate the light source necessarily weakens the overall strength of the pole.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,311 to Hodgson discloses a ski pole which is illuminated by a light source received within the shaft of the pole. Because the shaft must be hollowed out to receive the light source, its strength is impaired. Also, because the light is dispersed from a relatively small portion of the shaft, the pole is only partially illuminated.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,445 to Steinhauer a light source is installed in the handle portion of a ski pole. Because the light is dispersed from the handle only, the entire shaft remains non-illuminated.
In my prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 920,379, filed Oct. 20, 1986, now abandoned, there was disclosed an illuminated ski pole having a single light source installed in the handle portion of the ski pole. In one embodiment, light from the source was transmitted to a solid, translucent shaft which carried the light along its length. A second embodiment included a hollow translucent shaft having longitudinal grooves along which the light was transmitted.